If you’re having a discussion about the lasting legacy of musicians without mentioning Incubus – you’re not having a serious discussion. Since 1991’s Fungus Amongus, the Calabasas cosmic crooners have released songs that didn’t just define their career, but the lives of fans. The type of person who doesn’t have a stirring nostalgic response to the opening strums of ‘Drive’ isn’t the type of person I want to meet. If you didn’t find new parts of yourself during the first spin of ‘Aqueous Transmission’; I have some homework for you and if ‘Megalomanic’ hasn’t been semi stuck in your head for the ..read more

Every comment is from a bot, every email is a potential threat and every phone call is a shake-down waiting to happen. Let’s face it; modern communication has failed. It’s high time we walk things back to a place where we can stay connected without the risk of predation, and the boom in zine culture has given us the perfect segue into this better way of doing things. We’ve spoken at length about the largely untapped potential of self-published zines and, when produced in a sustainable manner, their potential to usurp social media as a means of promotion. Now, with the release of Pulse #2, and ..read more

From the bushfires of 2020, to the Myanmar military coup of 2021 to the invasion of Ukraine the following year or fending off crowds of Nazis, It’s becoming all too often for the punks of Australia to rise to the occasion, and band together for those in need. The rallying call is once again being heard, with local musicians and artists combining their powers in an effort to raise funds, awareness and support for the kids of Palestine, impacted by the continuing conflict with Israel. Melbourne label Life Lair Regret have announced “a collaboration between our community”, Hardcore 4 Palestine, o ..read more

Like the Planeteers and Power Rangers before them, Northlane and Parkway Drive vocalist Winston McCall have combined powers, uniting to form an unstoppable titan of Australian heavy music power, ‘Miasma’. Hellbent on their mission to charter hitherto uncharted regions of noise, Northlane have opened a portal to their sound of yesteryear, while honouring the growth between then and now. ‘Miasma’ is a chugg-driven, groove-fest with hints of 2015’s Node, combined with the svelte and sophisticated textures from 2022’s Obsidian. Naturally, there’s a lot going on lyrically, but the use of the term ..read more

From Gandalf to Goku to The Green Lantern, all to often our favourites are reintroduced to us in some new and fantastic form, and we the fans simply live for it. The same phenomenon is happening right now with in the Of Mice & Men fandom, with the heroes of post-hardcore emerging as their latest incantation – a new era ushered by the release of album number eight, Tether. Tether is lean and sleek; calculated and confident – like any of the big cat species in their prime. Tether captures everything Of Mice & Men have learned about their craft since day dot, balancing mosh-pit igniters l ..read more

A big RIP to any and all who thought they had laid their best live music plans for early 2024, as another one has landed in our lap that falls into the category of cannot be missed. Post-hardcore titans Of Mice & Men have announced their return to Australian shores, picking up where they left off after a 6 year wait in February 2024. Fans and the band have plenty to catch up on, with a number of current fan-favourites yet to be aired from our stages. Up until now, we’ve been placated with live footage of all the hard-hitters from their latest effort, Tether, but thankfully that’s about to ..read more

Novocastrian hardcore maven’s Boudicca are back with a brand new EP, and with it several rare and important moments to stop, listen and learn. Just like it’s older sibling, 2022’s Tapestry, Boudicca have taken the time to craft an anthology of not just songs, but stories inspired by historic events and re-told through a modern lens. But Uncouth is far from a copy+paste job from the 5 piece. Straight off the rip, Uncouth brings forth the face-melting heavy metal beast within Boudicca, that previously only reared it’s head sparringly. This time, they wear their solos and stadium beats on their s ..read more

If any of us truly contained multitudes, it’s Poppy. Dark, light, sweet, sour, the usual ones are there, of course; but with the release of Zig, the US world builder has shown the true depth and scope of her internal creative conflict. The album is a serve of left-right combos and handbrake turns. “Knockoff” set the pace, which was set and reset with each single release. By the time of single #4, Hard, it was clear fans truly had no idea what type of wickedness this way comes. And such is the sudden, dramatic and no-holes-barred process for the star, who took a moment to flesh out some of the ..read more

You can’t be what you can’t see, and after years of reasonable pleas for Australia’s festival scene to catch up to 2023 and curate lineups that reflect audiences being ignored, Australia’s alt trans and non-binary music scene has done the heavy lifting themselves. Today, we behold Transgenre, an inaugeral live music event set to showcase many brilliant and important voices so often looked over. Leading the charge for the festival line up is bubblegum punk’s Cry Club, who will be holding high above their heads album #2, Spite Will Save Me. Since the albums June release, the band have wasted get ..read more

You don’t need to unpack C.O.F.F.I.N to have a good time, but with Australia Stops, they’ve released one for the feelers and the thinkers. From Sydney’s Northern Beaches to the world, C.O.F.F.I.N have had a busy few months peddling their hard rock wares, and with the release their fifth album, Australia Stops, the band couldn’t be further from the prospect of down time, which is fantastic news for us. At a time when we so desperately need important conversations to be had en mass, C.O.F.F.I.N have built a rep as being ones to speak up, but never speak at. There’s no guilt trip with this headba ..read more